It is known for female electrical contacts to be arranged in a plug housing for receiving male electrical contacts arranged in a cap housing. In order to provide for reliable electrical contact between the female and male contacts, it is desirable that the female contacts exert a contacting force on the male contacts they are retaining. In many cases, this is accomplished by spring-loading the female contacts. One of the designs based on such a method comprises a pair of flat springs connected at their rear end with one spring having a fulcrum at its mid-point and the other one being of a variable displacement in order to provide the high contacting force as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 85-62780. However, the female contacts of such a design are difficult to reduce in size because of the pair of springs having a fulcrum which is a complicated configuration.
Another type of female contact has been offered which can be manufactured by stamping one flat strip and making a double curve at its end which serves as a spring-loaded contacting section as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 94-50451. Because the design of such a contact is simple, it was suitable for use in small-size connectors. An additional advantage of such a design was that the double curve could provide a high contacting force. However to get a high contacting force from such a spring-loaded contact there must be long length between the point of contact with the male contact and the spring's fulcrum. Due to the long length needed, the amount of contacting US force is limited when this design is reduced to a small-sized device because of the fact that the length of the female contact is limited.
Considering the aforementioned female contact designs, the objective of this invention is to offer a female contact whose spring-loaded member can provide a high contacting force even at small sizes and a connector for using such contacts.